Did you know that every month there are millions of online searches related to the office equipment industry? By following a few simple steps, smart dealers can be selling to these online searchers in no time, before their  competitors do. 

If you’re not sure that search engine marketing is worth your time and money, consider that last month in the U.S. alone, people “Googled” the phrase ‘document management software’ more than 550,000 times! The people searching on this phrase were trying to do one of two things:

1.Find out more information on ‘document management software’

2.Purchase something related to ‘document management software’

For each instance of a search on ‘document management software’, Google generated “sponsored links” (advertisements) along the top and right sides of the page (see figure 1).  If you think high dollar value products don’t sell with online advertising, then notice the ads at the bottom right. Also, notice that smaller companies are able to compete for clicks with major industry players like Adobe.

It is in the “sponsored links” section of search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN where traditional marketing has been forever changed. 

You and your company are no longer trying to find new prospects to sell to.  Instead, motivated, qualified prospects are already trying to find you and your products, and all you have to do is present them with what they’re searching for. 

The key to running successful SEM campaigns is determining exactly who you want as a prospect and then designing your ads and Web pages with a consistent message and call-to-action so that when they find you, doing business is a “no-brainer.” 

Search engine marketing done right, is highly targeted.

Basics of Search Engine Marketing 101

Setting up an Account - To get started with SEM, you’ll need about 10 minutes to open an advertiser account with a search engine like Google, Yahoo, or MSN. Your account can contain multiple campaigns which should be organized like this:

Once you open an account, you’ll create campaigns and enable settings like geographic targeting and daily budget.  You will probably want to make separate campaigns for different product lines such as B/W printers vs. color printers, copiers, etc.

Within each campaign you’ll make ad groups.  If you have a “printers” campaign, you might give it separate ad groups for each volume band printer that you sell (i.e. make an ad group for office, one for entry production color, and one for production).  Write your ad for each set of keywords in an ad group.

Keywords are also housed within each ad group and need to be variations of their ad group name (include the ad group name as a keyword too). Keep group keywords tightly themed. When someone searches on your keywords in the search engine, your ads are then displayed.  Refine them regularly!

Research Keywords - Let’s say you provide electronic document management programs. To research keywords, locate the Google AdWords keyword tool at:

adwords.google.com/select/keywordtoolexternal. Type in “Electronic document management” or enter your Web address; the tool will provide a list of related keywords, including monthly search volumes for each one.  “EDM” and its variations were searched over 82,000 times in July on Google!  Did your site get any hits from this Web traffic?

Once you determine all of your keywords, you need to write highly targeted ads to appeal to your desired customers only.

Write Highly Targeted Ads - SEM ads should be written with the main objective of getting only your prospects to click.  You do NOT want to appeal to the masses. Target only the keywords your potential prospects are searching on. For example, maybe you sell software tied to a specialty scanner called ScanX3000 that is ideal for converting hospital charts to digital files.  You’ll want to note this specialty use in your ad.

Design Web Pages To Boost ROI-Your SEM landing pages should get visitors to take action.  When someone clicks on your ad you must give them exactly what was promised.  Do this by matching the content of your ad with the landing page. Implement the following tips to make SEM dollars effective:

Align your keywords, ad text, landing page. In the headlines use a strong call-to-action that tells potential customers exactly what they should do on your site. Design a key action that your visitors will take to become customers or qualified leads. Knowing whether your landing page is for generating leads, selling product online, or just creating brand awareness will help you determine the key action your visitors should take.

Establishing a strong search engine marketing presence can seem daunting, but you can’t afford to let that scare you.  Just take one step at a time and make your products and services clearly available to the enormous number of potential clients searching for them.

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Tips to writing search engine ads

1. Make ads stand out. Use the keyword in your ad, preferably the headline. Google makes the searched keyword bold when it appears in the ad.  It’s helpful to organize your campaigns, ad groups and keywords.

2. Be explicit about your offer so that people know exactly what they’ll see after clicking on your ad. 

3. Tell people the benefits before the features, and make clear your unique selling proposition (what differentiates you from competitors). 

4. Don’t forget to use a call-to-action such as “start today” or “free trial” or “download whitepaper.”
 

Ben Ronnenberg is a Search Engine Marketing Analyst at ROI Revolution, a Google AdWords Qualified Co. For a free ad guide visit www.roirevolution.com/freeguide.